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Monster Girl Quest Review


babiker

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Introductions:-
You can skip this part, it's a personal rant on reviews, so it has nothing to do with the VN in question

Spoiler

I have always been a great fan of video reviews. I've probably watched more anime reviews than anime series, and that feels a little...  Odd to me. What is it that I enjoy so much in these videos? Well...  On one hand, I really enjoy listening to people's opinions on different matters, even if they're not the same as mine. Reviews give us a good summary of the work that is being reviewed, why one should experience it or why they shouldn't. They teach us how to be critical about something. They're also usually rather entertaining in and of themselves.

I've watched so much reviews in fact that at the end of every anime/VN/watevs the first thing I think about is what particular reviewers would say about the work, who would praise it and who would rage about it.

Despite that, I've never felt like reviewing something. Well, it's more like I've never gotten the guts to review something myself. Whenever I want to say something about a work, it's either already been talked about to oblivion, or something I don't know enough about and I fear coming off as an idiot. There is also the problem that reviews make you a lot more critical towards media, to the point where you can barely enjoy anything anymore.

... And yet, here I am, about to review a VN I never thought I would play in the first place. I chose to review this particular VN because well, this isn't a very well known VN even among the VN community. Monster Girl Quest has filled me with so much questions I have to ask, so much things I have  to say, that I simply had to talk about it. Since no one I know has played it, the only way I could satisfy myself is with making this review. So, without further ado, on to the actual review

About za game:-

Among the more respectable VN forums, Monster Girl Quest is looked down upon as a joke of a game that can't be taken seriously, but that's mostly because what it seems like at first sight. MGQ is a "nukige": A game that's allegedly designed to make you... Well, fap. (Or at least that's what people tell me it is, as VNDB doesn't really tell you if it's a nukige or not... But eh, I trust in the people!) If you add to that the fact that it's a nukige were you get raped by monster girls... Well, let's just say that alone is enough to turn away most people, and to be quite frank I myself would never have touched this game if that was my first impression of it. Fortunately (or unfortunately), the first time I heard about this game was through a review made by an amazing reviewer by the name of Aaox. I'll leave a link to his video at the end of this review.

Spoiler

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Anywho, from my own experience the "nukige" element in this game is questionable at best, and nonexistent at worst. The art, which I'll expand on later, isn't really something most people would call "h-scene material", nor is their much build up to those scenes. So if you're looking for a nukige, Monster Girl Quest is probably not the best option.

"Whom is it for then, sir Babiker?" 

Well, that's what you're supposed to figure out by the end of this review, no? Have some patience, dear reader. I'll go over what this game is all about from the story and characters to the art and music. So enough intros, let's do dis!

Story and Characters:-

MGQ is set in a fantasy-ish world, mainly populated by monsters and humans. The monsters are introduced as the bad guys, and the humans as the good guys. However, monsters don't actually kill humans, they just... well, rape them. From a normal human perspective this doesn't sound that bad, right? Particularly if you have a thing for monster girls... However the goddess of humans, Ilias, forbids having sex with monsters.We start with our young hero luka, a seemingly cheerful young boy who has a strong belief that monsters and humans should "coexist". On the day when he's supposed to receive the baptism of heroes, he hears news of a monster attacking his village so he goes out to protect his land. Luka successfully defeats the monster (unless you really want to get raped), and on his way back he finds an unconscious strong looking monster. Rather than killing the monster like a normal human, Luka tries to wake her up and tell her to leave before the humans get here, which she eventually does. However, Luka returns to the village too late for his baptism. Afterwards he meets up with the monster girl he had found sleeping earlier who goes by the name of Alice and they decide to go on an adventure, despite Luka not receiving the baptism that is required for being a hero.

Spoiler

Luka's first encounter with the Alice

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From there on, Luka goes on many adventures through out the world, meeting all kinds of monsters and humans. As he comes to understand the monster side of the world more he begins to question his own beliefs that he had been taught since birth. Monsters can only ever be female, so isn't the law of the goddess Ilias forcing monsters to resort to rape in order to stay alive? Think about it for a sec: Female monsters can only reproduce by sleeping with males, who are human, and yet male humans are forbidden to do so from the goddess Ilias.

Spoiler

The goddess Ilias, encouraging the hero Luka to "defeat the Monster lord" in a dream

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As silly as that setup sounds, this is, in my opinion, where MGQ shines best: Luka's struggle for world peace and coexistence isn't the kind of childish struggle of beating the bad guy that we've gotten so use to in most media. It's a realistic, heart breaking and very relatable battle that Luka wages against everyone around him as much himself. We see him struggle with his contradicting beliefs, his own personal biases towards monsters. While he starts his journey as a typical hero who "wants to defeat the monster lord", it becomes very clear very fast that things aren't that simple, and we see him develop into a very understanding and broad minded gentlemen.

Spoiler

Luka is a very good protagonist that develops pretty well

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I know I'm already taking too long with this, and I can't go on more without delving into spoilers, but I'm just so bewildered by how amazingly good the story of MGQ is. It's not just good, it's really, really good. Definitely not something you'd expect from the silly nukige it appears to be on the surface. You have terrorist organizations, human and monster kings and queens and the elite 4 whom you must defeat to finish the game-Ehrm, I mean the four heavenly knights... But yeah, you get the point. Fantastic characters with flaws and motivations, an epic plot with political and religious themes, and it still manages to be equally ridiculous and comedic... Not a single fault can I find with it.

Spoiler

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But that's enough of that, onto the not-so-gud parts of this game...

Gameplay:-

MGQ is also an RPG along with everything else, as if it needed any more categorizing complications... Anyways, the gameplay in this game is over all very basic rpg stuff. You have your basic attack, special moves that take SP, and a few other choices you can see right here:

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 There's a considerable amount of strategy involved that must not be overlooked, some opponents require you to guard at a specific time, in other encounters you must use a particular special move, etc. While the strategy does increase in complexity the more you go into the game, at some point towards the end you're mostly going to be pushing aside enemies with little to no effort, since you know what moves work against what, and enemies that require even the smallest bit of thinking will be very few and far between.

On the other hand, there are a few battles, particularly at the start that are pretty damn hard to beat unless you just talk to Ilias. Oh btw, did I mention that at death, you have the option to ask your goddess how to beat the enemy? Yeah, it's technically cheating, but useful against super hard opponents or when you're just not in the mood for a fight. Fights also have a considerable luck element in a few, especially if you choose a higher difficulty. Then there's the fact that if you lose you'll be... 

Spoiler

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Yeah

Art:-

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Such consistency. Much difference. Wow

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In my opinion, the art is by far the worst part of MGQ. Since I'd rather refrain from sharing most of them with ya'll (for your eyes), here's a tutorial on how to draw your average monster girl: 

First, pick a random animal, fruit or vegetable.
Add a vaguely female looking face somewhere on it.
Add female body parts randomly across the body, and remember: There's no limit to the amount of boobs you can add ;)
Congratulations! You now have your very own unique and probably disgusting monster girl.
Yeah... Unfortunately a very good amount of the art is either that or just outright bad quality, like. Some of these sprites seem to be drawn by children... There is some good art here and there, in fact the difference in quality is very off putting at times, especially when the sprites are talking right next to each other. But in general, you're going to find yourself looking away from the monster girl you're facing. I would talk about backgrounds but honestly who cares about those.  Now, let us move on:-

Music:-

The music is a ok I guess. You have a considerable amount of meh, just your average game music, and a few really bad tracks, but on the other hand you have quite a lot of really good tracks, with a few being noticeably outstanding. Do note that this game is very long, even tho VNDB says its length is average that's only one part of MGQ, which has 3 parts, so in total it's around 70-90 hours-ish. With that considered, this VN surprisingly has the largest amount of tracks I've ever seen, 90 in total, so you're never really bored of listening to one track over and over again. Achieving that alone in such a long VN is enough for the music to get a pass from me.

Spoiler

By far the best track of MGQ.

 

 


 
Conclusion:-

This is where a reviewer usually either puts a misleading number that's supposed to show how he or she evaluates the game, or decides for you if the VN in question is worth your time or not. However, in my honest opinion that kind of takes away the value of the review itself: I've given you what I think are this VN's main strengths and weaknesses, it's for you to decide whether the pros outweigh the cons. If your art standards are well, even a little high, then you probably won't go for MGQ(Except you Ten, go read it nao). Then you have the h-scenes... And yeah, I'd understand where you're coming if you don't even consider touching MGQ solely because of those... However, if those two aren't a big deal for you, then there's a lot to be had in MGQ. This is the only VN where I almost never felt bored, for God's sake there's technically no common route at all, which for me is fantastic.

I did say that by the end of this review you should figure out who this VN is for, and I hope you have because I quite honestly have not...

I find MGQ's choice of story to be ironic, to say the least. It's about a young man fighting the prejudice against monsters, yet this very game will probably never get over people's prejudice against itself, nukige, and eroge in general for the matter. I can't really recommend it to most people myself. If MGQ where to ever receive something akin to F/SN's realta nua version, improving the art and removing the h-scenes, something like a steam release, then I'd be more than willing to support and spread it. But as it is right now... It's, just as the great commentator of the visual arts Aaox put it, "We have a game that is, despite itself, surprisingly, well crafted. It is surprisingly, emotional. It is, surprisingly, good. And that's... Well, surprisingly sad."

Aaox's review:

Spoiler

 

 

For those OELVN devs out there, please learn from Monster Girl Quest's example. If you have an epic story with epic characters and all that good stuff, invest in everything else that makes a Visual Novel what it is. Try to make it as accessible to everyone as possible. I can't stand to see another epic tale that denies itself from getting the recognition it deserves... Well, that took quite a while, if you read all of that than you have my dearest thanks, and I beg you to share you opinion on this VN.

TL;DR:

Spoiler

Pros:-

-Epic story with lots of unexpected twists and turns.

-A large cast of very likable characters, protagonists and antagonists.

-A... Let's say, "unique" setting and world.

Oks(?):-

-Ok Music. Nothing too special.

-Ok gameplay. Never really holds the story back while not being too great on its own

Cons:-

-Very bad art for the most part

-A massive amount of badly drawn H-scenes (well, if you lose... ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°))

-Very long? This is kinda subjective w

 

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Yeas the great MGQ series deserves attention.

I started the game just for the lulz, I was looking for something different and well MGQ is pretty unique.

Your review is mostly accurate with the art being the worst part of the game and the story and characters being the best. Apparently the reason for the inconsistent art is because it was drawn by various people, due to budget and what not.

One of my favourite parts of the game is the plant-insect village issue. For me the depth of such side-stories(?) is what made the game so enjoyable.             

And I feel that the simplistic gameplay suits it as it's meant to story-driven with the gameplay being a secondary factor. Also the fact that grinding is literally nonexistent is a huge plus for me.   

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I once downloaded this game to see if it was any good but didn't end up playing it. To hear it has a good story is actually surprising. I'll always remember when my friend showed me a sick tune and told me it was from Monster Girl Quest and being really shocked from it. This game looks deceiving as fuck.

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34 minutes ago, monkeysrumble said:

I once downloaded this game to see if it was any good but didn't end up playing it. To hear it has a good story is actually surprising. I'll always remember when my friend showed me a sick tune and told me it was from Monster Girl Quest and being really shocked from it. This game looks deceiving as fuck.

It is deceiving as fuck.  The first 30-45 minutes played like a straight nukige with pretty much nothing interesting happening.  Between that and the art variation, it was enough for me to drop it.  I'll come back to it some day, though.

I agree completely about the art.  It's either really good, pretty good but in a completely different style, or looks like something that was cobbled together in some Paint-like program in a few hours.  Some of the sprites made me shudder with how bad they looked.  I really hope that they stopped doing that in the sequels, because it didn't work very well at all to have multiple artists work in different styles on one VN.

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